Advice
by Papersak
Summary: On the outside, you see a strong and possibly heartless fighter... one who would never willingly admit he liked someone... unless he had to, anyway. Snake/Meta friendship... sort of. One shot.


(Complete experiment. Was supposed to be an entry in a Meta Knight crossover contest but it doesn't have enough Meta Knight, does it? It seems to be more about Snake... for some bizarre reason, I wanted to write a story with him and I still don't know why. I guess this takes place after the SSE... screw how that affects Satisfaction because they aren't the same characters. :P

Beta readers intimidate me sometimes and this isn't my best fanfic (paha, I can sound like Falco. Neat xD) so I didn't have one... I just read over it twice. I'm asking all you guys to review and nitpick, please. :)

And uh. If anyone actually likes this, let me know. If it seems worthy, I might still enter it. -shrug- Otherwise, I have to come up with a picture and I'm not having any luck for some reason. D: Artist's blooooock.

EDIT: For some reason, it repeated the first sentence when I uploaded. Thanks Lugia, for pointing it out. And er, I've been lame about pointing it out but always check for that cause this seems like a random glitch...)

* * *

It was a late hour, but he still used the time to think. After a long day of watching and fighting in the tournament, Solid Snake went over his mistakes, aiming to improve. There was no doubt the matches hadn't gone the way he planned. Although he was still in the competition, he nearly lost to a number of people, and it was getting worse by the day. Had Olimar not tripped toward the end, he wouldn't have been hit by slow missile fired by the Pikmin-covered soldier.

Snake was watching those "replays" in a large viewing room. And he wasn't alone.

"Something is different about you."

He turned around, following the deep voice. The "man" he met aboard the Halberd was standing at the doorway, wrapped in his navy-colored cape.

"Don't you ever knock?" Snake commented.

"It isn't your room," he answered in a monotone voice. True, this was open for anyone who wanted to see the matches for the tournament. There simply wasn't anyone else there at night. "You're still in the competition. You should sleep."

"Hmph. So should you."

"I know my limits. It appears you're still deciphering yours." Meta Knight walked to his side, avoiding eye contact. Instead, he was focused on the video of his match with Zelda the day before.

"Your aim was off," he began. "You made a perfect opening for her. You're also hesitating too much."

"I know that," Snake argued. "Quit telling me what's obvious."

"You're also snapping at people more often."

Snake glared at him, but Meta Knight ignored him and continued.

"During our journey, you were nothing like this. Back then, I would've considered you a fearsome opponent. You had every move planned before you made it. I was relieved that you were willing to fight alongside us.

"And now, something is different about you."

"Was that supposed to be some kind of compliment?" Snake mumbled sarcastically.

"It was an observation."

"Right. If you're so smart, why don't you already know what's different?"

"You're hiding it," Meta Knight replied. "It seemed obvious to me."

Snake grumbled in frustration. The swordsman had a way of getting on people's nerves when he didn't like someone.

"What do you propose I do about it, then?" Snake asked, watching as Zelda threw him out of bounds for the second time. He barely recovered just above the edge.

"I don't know just yet. You haven't told me what's changed about you."

He couldn't just ask what was wrong. Even if he did, Snake wouldn't answer such a direct question and Meta Knight was well aware of that. However, Meta Knight was one of the most respected fighters in the competition, so Snake hoped that perhaps he would have some advice.

"I've been kind of distracted," he reluctantly began.

Meta Knight waited for him to continue.

"Since I got here, I noticed someone... new to me. And all of a sudden I have this weird motivation to impress... this person." He paused. "Are you even listening?"

"Yes," he answered quickly, "but you can't impress her without admitting you want to." Right away, Meta Knight knew it was a woman, and although he suspected just who it was he decided not to say her name. "Now that you've done so, you can use this to your advantage."

"That's ridiculous," Snake said. "All this has done so far is break my concentration."

"So far, the thoughts you've been struggling with have been ones of doubt. You denied having any connection to 'this person' and fought against it, perhaps even making you question if competing is going to accomplish anything. Now that you've accepted your liking for someone, you have no reason to wonder about it. Your new priority is to appeal to her, and you can accomplish this by competing. If you believe that, you can focus on your battling abilities."

"How am I supposed to take advice from someone like you, anyway?" Snake asked. "The only thing you ever think about is fighting. I doubt you have a girl back in that 'Dream Land' place you live in."

"At a glance, you appear to be the same way. Anyone else who walked in would see you frustrated by your mistakes in this competition and nothing more. Perhaps we aren't much different."

"Hmph." Snake tried to ignore him.

Meta Knight turned to the door in the back. "I wouldn't take advice from many people, either." He began walking. "If you're done, you should rest. The tournament will only get harder." He left the soldier alone.

As Meta Knight headed down the hallway, he heard the video switch off. Perhaps his ally would take his advice after all.

* * *

(In case you were wondering, I do semi-support Snake/Samus. So there. xP I don't know if anyone ships him with any other girl but if you do, then pretend it's her. xP

I was hoping this would go somewhere interesting but it didn't. Sorry. Dx I have yet to be flamed for having a cruddy fic in reviews, but don't flame meh. I don't think it's BAD, just rather pointless and disappointing... eheh...

And I can't get rid of this break below this sentence. Please ignore it. xP)

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End file.
